What You Should Be Learning From Your Competition

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE LEARNING FROM YOUR COMPETITION

Thursday, September 10, 2015Global Administrator
eCommerce professionals are constantly faced with new challenges. These vary anywhere from the ever changing worlds of marketing and technology, to finding ways to constantly improve their product. Having said that, one of the challenges that remains constant is your competition.

As an online merchant, you are constantly forced to compete on price, quality, image etc. Our advice to you is to learn from your competitors. Take what you know about them and use it to your advantage. Here are a few things to ask yourself while completing your competitive analysis.

How/where are they finding success?

Keep an eye on where they are getting feedback and engagement from their audience.

Is it social media?

Is it directly on their site comments?

Are they requesting reviews from their customers? Are they good?

Find creative ways to look at this information and give yourself a good idea of where they are finding success and how they are doing it. When you do, find a way to do it better!

How are they failing?

On the other hand, you will also find value in knowing where they are falling short; their Achilles heel. This is a great indication of where you can be investing some time and money. For example, if they’re lacking testimonials or customer reviews, it may be something you want to look into. This would give you a step up from what they’re doing.

Gaps in the market?

Look through what your customers are saying about the market; that means all of the players in the space. You might be able to find a common piece missing. For example, if you and your competitor are listing a product at a higher price point, you may find that your customers are looking for a simpler version at a lower price. This is a great opportunity to give them just that! Be the first to fill that gap.

What are they talking about?

As any good business owner knows, you need to talk to your customers to understand what they want and how to reach them. If you’re struggling with this, it may be wise to look at what your competitors are doing and how they’re talking to customers. Some questions you want to answer would be:

What do your customers want to know?

What questions are being asked?

What are your customer’s needs?

Your competitors will always be there, and sometimes competing on price isn’t always an option. Knowing what they’re doing is an ethical and strategic way to get ahead. By investing even the smallest amount of time into your competitive analysis, you can gather information that will help you succeed in the market. From doing this, you will not only get information on how to improve what you’re already doing, but you’ll also avoid some critical errors.

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